


Shades of Green and Gold

by seki



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don’t copy to another site, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 03:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17256605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seki/pseuds/seki
Summary: Burn away the mistakes of the past, that you may enter the future unburdened by regret.





	Shades of Green and Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blossattic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blossattic/gifts).



> Written for the Ignoct New Year's Gift Exchange! 
> 
> I tried to include as many of your suggestions as felt right for the story; I hope you like it!

The New Year celebrations in Insomnia are a huge deal. Big bonfires, parties that last all night, fireworks and live music and market-type stalls and everywhere noise and people.

And this is the year of the Empire's failed attempt to seize the Crystal, the death of the Emperor, the resultant pulling-back of all Imperial troops, lands reclaimed that had been thought lost. A year of triumph and hard-won victories.

The parties are gonna be _incredible_.

The problem is that Noctis kind of hates New Year parties, or any other big public celebrations. Either he uses his rank to get himself a special seat and therefore space to breathe amidst the crowds -- but at the cost of having to be _the prince_ all evening -- or he enjoys being anonymous but feels claustrophobic and overwhelmed and unable to escape.

Given the scale of this year's event, he's decided to just tell everyone he's busy and _hide_. He's picked one of the small top-floor apartments they keep for visitors. Nobody will come looking, not with so much going on below. He thinks it's a decent plan. He'll get a pretty decent view of the lightshows from here, and the rest of it is nothing he'll be that sad to miss out on.

It's a bit lonely, though.

He pulls his blanket tight around him. The windows are opened fully to the night air, one plush chair pulled up as close as possible to the sill, and even from this height he can hear the city-wide party below, the volume rising and falling but never sinking below a low roar. He's got his phone, a currently-popular novel he keeps being told by Prompto to read, and a stash of peppered jerky. He'll be fine. 

Besides, it's still at least an hour until midnight, and already fireworks are rising and blossoming brightly against the dull purplish expanse.

"Ah, so this is where you're hiding yourself."

Noctis should have known. He shrugs, glances over his shoulder. "Not out in the hustle?"

"My tolerance for group debauchery is only so high."

"Uh-huh."

There's a huge sudden sprawl of fireworks from one of the closer eastern districts, a flurry of explosions in pinks and golds and greens. It's pretty enough to distract Noctis entirely for a few seconds, and then Ignis is suddenly leaning over the back of his chair.

"Drink?"

"Sure. Don't suppose you brought up some of the mulled wine?"

"As if I would intoxicate the Crown Prince. Something hot, however, is a fine idea."

Noctis shrugs again. Ignis moves away, and Noctis returns his attention to scanning the skies and listening to the faint strains of celebration below. A faint popping sound from the kitchen means Ignis is turning on the gas hob, and there are noises of whisking and Ignis's usual gentle busy-cooking sounds.

The crowd noise outside changes tone, surges up again. Noctis hears the booming bassline of one of the year's most popular songs, and despite his vague hipster urges to pretend he's too cool for it, he lets himself sing along. Ignis won't care.

"Here."

The tiny cup Ignis pushes into his hand is very hot, full of a dark liquid that smells absolutely heavenly. "You made hot chocolate?"

"Indeed." Ignis sits on the arm of Noctis's chair. "An import."

Noctis takes a sip. The chocolate is delicious, thick and velvety. It's so thick, in fact, that Noctis can feel how it clings above his upper lip. He wipes that away with the back of his hand, and grins. "Good stuff."

"The secret's in how long you heat it for. That and the spices."

"And you're sharing it with me, huh."

"Who better?"

Ignis has other friends, Noctis knows. But he's come to check up on Noctis anyway, which is… sweet, and makes Noctis feel good. Favoured. He takes another sip of the chocolate, trying to hide how flattered he feels. "Any plans for the new year?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Ignis's expression is serene. "Perhaps to leave fewer things unsaid."

"So you're _not_ cutting back on Ebony."

"Hardly. I'm only human."

Noctis has to smile at that. "So what's left unsaid that you're gonna say?"

"It's not the new year yet." Ignis gestures towards more fireworks, these ones further north than the previous set. "Still the best part of an hour on the clock."

The new fireworks are really pretty; starry trails that arc through the sky shedding sparkles as they go. Noctis watches appreciatively, takes another tiny sip of the hot chocolate. Ignis is so close that Noctis is tempted to just lean a little sideways, so he can rest his head on Ignis's leg.

He doesn't think Ignis would mind, exactly. Once upon a time, when they were younger, he used to cuddle up to Ignis easily enough. Teenage awkwardness had gotten in the way of that, but these days Ignis doesn't seem to shy away from casual touches -- which is great and awful at the same time, since those little touches keep doing things to Noctis's hormones.

Ignis is one of the finest men Noctis knows, one of his dearest friends, and Noctis can't stop thinking about what it might be like to kiss him.

What the hell. It's New Year's Eve. 

He shifts, tries to make it nonchalant, tips his head so it rests against Ignis's thigh.

Ignis doesn't move away. In fact, after a few heartbeats, Noctis feels Ignis's fingers gently comb through his hair, just above the nape of his neck. It's soothing, and it's also permission, which means Noctis can pull his legs up, curl himself on the seat, and lean his whole weight towards Ignis.

"Sleepy?" Ignis asks after -- gosh, Noctis has no idea how long -- his voice as gentle as his fingers. "Are you going to make it to tomorrow?"

"Probably. Music's loud enough to keep me awake."

"Good. Don't fall asleep on me. You'll miss the best part of the night."

Noctis snorts. "You're the one who came here and gave me hot chocolate." The way he's sitting, now, means he has the tiny cup held close to his chest, warming his hand. "It's a bedtime drink, Specs."

"Which I see you've nearly finished. Would you like a refill?"

That would mean Ignis moving, but then, maybe Ignis wants the excuse to move. "There's more?"

"I can make more."

"Maybe later. I'm comfy now." More fireworks, almost directly ahead in the distance, and Noctis can hear these ones fizz and crackle over the music outside.

"Fifteen minutes to the count. Do you have a list?"

Noctis shifts, so he can stare up at Ignis without lifting his head. "List?"

"To burn." Ignis reaches into his shirt pocket with the hand not curled beneath Noctis's head, pulls out a folded piece of paper. "Regrets and the like from the last year. One of my friends reminded me."

It's an old-fashioned custom, something a grandparent might do. Ignis is many things, but old-fashioned isn't usually one of them. Noctis reaches up, curious.

"Ah-ah." Ignis curls his fingers, crumples the paper inside his fist. "It's not for sharing. You destroy it in the last moments of the dying year, so you can start the new one afresh. Do you want to make one?"

There are a number of things Noctis regrets, but none he'd be willing to put down on paper in front of Ignis. "Nah. But don't let me stop you. Burn that sucker."

"Let me up, then."

Noctis lifts his head, turns so he can prop his head up on his arm, sip what's left of his chocolate and watch as Ignis walks out of sight, into the kitchen, then as he emerges with a candle and a saucer a few moments later. Ignis tugs over the nearest side-table, sets the candle in the saucer on the table.

And then kneels next to it, checks his watch, and touches his finger to the wick to bring the flame to life. Ignis doesn't often show off his own magic powers, and it makes Noctis feel oddly trusted to see him do so.

"I hope not to acquire more to add to this in the next twelve minutes or so," he says, and flashes a smile towards Noctis. "Sure you don't want to scribble up a list? I could suggest a few items."

"I don't regret not eating enough vegetables, Specs."

Another smile, and then Ignis gently lowers one edge of the folded square into the flame. "All my regrets, my shame, my mistakes and missteps. I start the next year anew."

He looks serious, and Noctis feels another jab of curiosity.

It's been a complicated year for a lot of people. But the war is over. They've pushed back the borders, turned back the daemons, even -- in the last month -- dropped the Wall entirely. Lucis's star is ascending. Peace has returned to Eos.

What can Ignis have to regret? 

He continues to wonder, watching Ignis turn the paper, the flame reflected in his glasses, watching him drop the burning mass onto the candle so the ash mixes messily with the molten wax, watching him ensure that every scrap of paper is consumed. Fireworks burst, so close that Noctis can taste the gunpowder in the air, but Ignis's eyes do not move even minutely from his work.

Ignis exhales when it's done, which -- either on purpose or coincidentally, Noctis isn't sure -- puts out the flame. The candle-light had seemed trivial against the blaze of fireworks outside, but without it the room seems darker than it should.

"Was… that cathartic?" Noctis asks, into the odd darkness, when Ignis doesn't move.

"I'd hoped it would bring me strength. I'm not sure it has."

Oh.

There's another pause, and then something shifts in Noctis's head. Ignis trusts him with this, too, with his vulnerability as well as the glimpses of magic. The least Noctis can do in return is trust Ignis with his feelings.

"Come here," Noctis says, unsure what exactly he means, but Ignis just returns to his place on the arm of Noctis's chair, his expression unreadable. "How long until--"

"Not long." Ignis tugs the empty cup out of Noctis's hand. "Refill?"

"Hell yes."

Ignis goes to get more chocolate, and Noctis turns his attention back to the sky, trying to settle his nerves. He'll tell Ignis, he thinks then, in a flare of decisiveness. He'll open up his heart, knowing Ignis will be at worst merely kind and regretful in saying no.

And if that's all Ignis does, say no gently, then Noctis will find a way to live with that.

The nearby fireworks are ramping down now, presumably so that the spectacle after midnight looks more dramatic in contrast to the peace and quiet. The music is still loud, golden oldies that Noctis isn't _that_ ashamed of knowing off by heart. He's mouthing along with one when Ignis returns.

"Nearly time," Ignis says, and he sets the two cups down on the table before he takes his seat again. "Any last words for this year?"

"I'm glad it's over."

Ignis smiles. "Aren't we all."

"And, um. I'm gonna do a thing."

"A resolution? Most intriguing."

"Mm. What about you?"

"I, too, have something I plan on doing next year." Ignis, when Noctis sneaks a quick peek, is checking his watch. "A vow I made some time ago."

"Huh."

The music suddenly cuts off. Noctis leans forward, as does Ignis. There's a muffled sort of speech below, and then the count starts.

"Five!"

Noctis heaves in a breath.

"Four!"

Ignis's hand moves, on top of his. "Three," Ignis says, and his fingers thread between Noctis's, curl just enough to be intimate. "Two."

The moment stretches out, as Noctis stares up into Ignis's face. The glow from the fires outside is bright enough to show his expression: fond, determined and _nervous_. Oh.

 _Please_.

"One!"

There's an eruption outside; fireworks, colours, noise, music, gunpowder smoke wreathing the air, an exultant welcoming of the new year. None of it really matters to Noctis. His world has narrowed down to Ignis; green eyes bright behind those glasses, mouth slightly open and lifted at one side in a half-smile.

Ignis leans down and kisses him, lips warm and soft, moving so gently it's as if he thinks Noctis will break. His fingers grip Noctis's tightly, he's balanced precariously over Noctis in the chair, in a way that makes the weight of his glasses dig into Noctis's cheeks. Noctis has a sudden panicked sensation that if he does what he wants -- grab Ignis, pulls him down on top of him -- that Ignis might topple out of the open window.

He pushes Ignis away by the chin, just a bit, smiling so that Ignis knows the kiss was welcome.

"Noct?"

"Happy New Year, Specs." Noctis tips his head backwards, straightens in the chair. "C'mon, I wanna kiss you properly. Let me up."

Ignis helps him up, and as soon as he's on his feet Noctis kisses Ignis again, pulls those hands down and _around_ so they're on Noctis's waist, leans up into the kiss and forgets everything else. It's eager, and easy, and _wonderful_. Ignis kisses him breathless, holds him steady, anchors him in reality while somehow making the entire world outside melt away. 

He pulls away, and the fireworks are still going, lighting the world in alternating shades of green and gold.

"Can't believe you beat me to it," Noctis says, and it comes out in a laugh that makes Ignis's eyes crease up in happiness. "I was gonna ask you on a date or something."

"You still can," Ignis says, his hands warm on Noctis's sides. "I'd rather enjoy being courted."

Noctis wrinkles his nose in fake-dismay. "Ugh. Fine. Wanna go out with me?"

"Oh, I'd much rather stay in, if you catch my meaning."

Ignis's mouth has gone sly, his glasses glinting with each distant burst of brilliance outside. Noctis can't stop smiling. His head feels light, nearly dizzy. "Wow. Here I thought you'd be all, let's take it slowly, go to the theatre and the movie and stuff."

"Yes, well, we _should_ do those things, of course." Ignis's mouth is still sly. "But not right now."

No, Noctis thinks, gleeful, as Ignis leads him towards the wide couch. They'll make time for those things, for dates and hand-holding and being _boyfriends_. But right now… right now they'll celebrate the year just gone, and the year yet to come, and make their happiness here together.


End file.
